Pineapple plant named &#34;Honey Gold&#34;

ABSTRACT

A new pineapple variety named “Honey Gold” is provided. High levels of brix, total sugars, citric acid and ascorbic acid characterize the variety. The new variety bears 0-3 slips.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a new and distinct pineapple variety ofAnanas comosus, hereinafter referred to by the variety name ‘HoneyGold’. The variety has been developed by using clonal selection withinthe parent population. The process started at the end of 1997 usingmaterial from the hybrid Tainung 11 (also known as Perfume pineapple inTaiwan)(non patented). The original seedlings were asexually reproducedusing stem cuttings and crowns (asexual seeds). The pineapple plant‘Honey Gold’ was developed through mass selection at the research areaof Corporacion de Desarrollo Agricola Del Monte, S.A.Pindeco, BuenosAires-Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The process of mass selection took fiveyears of consecutive plantings and selections.

The main objective of the selection program, was to obtain a pineapplevariety with a nice tasting fruit, that would keep the original aroma,with fruit of an appropriate size and shape, but distinguished forhaving a higher concentration of ascorbic and citric acid, brix orsoluble solids, an fewer plant slips, with respect to the parental line.

Personnel of PINDECO's Research Department in Buenos Aires-Puntarenas,Costa Rica, have developed this new plant. From a group of 19 crowns(asexual seeds) (original parental population) obtained through DelMonte Fresh Produce personnel in Hong Kong, the process of sowing beganin Buenos Aires Puntarenas, Costa Rica, by selecting the plants withbetter characteristics through three generations.

The clone selected after all this effort, resembles the originalparental material, but it is distinguished by its higher sugar (TSS),citric acid, ascorbic acid levels, and also by the fewer slips per plantand fewer spines in the leaves.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a new and distinct variety of the Bromeliaceae,or pineapple family, which was derived by clonal selection from thehybrid Tainung 11, or Perfume pineapple, after continued five yearselection and reproduction effort.

The new plant variety is characterized by smooth leaves, with occasionalpresence of spines on the leaf tips; by the reduced number of slips andthe higher citric acid and ascorbic acid levels, and the higher solublesolids content of the fruit flesh, when compared with the parental line.The fruit is cylindrical to conic in shape, of medium size, and veryresistant to skin dehydration damage. Mature fruit has an intense yellowcolor and a strong and sweet aroma, and a wonderful taste,characteristic of the parental line. It is susceptible to chill damage(or internal browning). Even in the absence of refrigeration, the shelflife of the fruit is very long, when compared with other varieties asevidenced by less fruit fermentation, dehydration and brown spots. Thisnew variety produces moderate yields of fruit, best suited for the freshmarket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. Shows the lateral view of a plant and root system against ametric ruler.

FIG. 2. Shows a ‘Honey Gold’ plantation.

FIG. 3. Shows an overhead view of a ‘Honey Gold’ plant.

FIG. 4. Shows a close-up of an immature fruit.

FIG. 5. Shows a close-up of a mature fruit

FIG. 6. Shows a mature plant with three or less slips. Age of the plantis 354 days after planting. MA-2 is breeder's number.

BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

The following detailed description of the new variety is based onobservations of well fertilized specimens which were grown under fieldconditions, in the Buenos Aires region, Costa Rica, at 350 msnm, wheretemperatures generally range form 14° C. to 37° C., and annual rainfallaverages 3251 mm.

The plants were grown at PINDECO, the Del Monte Fresh Produce researchfacility in Buenos Aires-Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

Color terminology and color designations reported herein are inaccordance with Munsell Color Notations for plant tissues published byMunsell Color Macbeth, a division of Kollmorgen Corporation, Baltimore,Md., USA.

The following description was taken at harvest beginning of 2003, of thegeneral population of this new variety, which was sowed from asexualseed. The harvest was 354 days after planting.

PLANT IDENTIFICATION

-   -   -   Name.— Ananas comosus.        -   Parentage.—Tainung 11 (Perfume pineapple).        -   Origin.—Clonal selection, through 5 years of consecutive            selections and reproductions (three generations).

-   Classification:    -   -   I. Botanic.—Bromeliaceae or pineapple family. Subfamily:            Bromelioideae. Genus: Ananas. Subgenus: comosus. Variety:            ‘Honey Gold’.        -   II. Commercial.—Bromeliad fruit plant.        -   Form.—Terrestrial (in cultivation), with overlapping sessile            leaves from a funnel-formed rosette, surrounding a composite            inflorescence (during anthesis) and with 0 to 3 slips in the            fruit peduncle that initiate before anthesis, and dominant            suckers that are produced in the stem and originate            subsequent crops.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. ‘HONEY GOLD’ (BEFORE ANTHESIS)

-   Stem:    -   -   I. General.—Short, upright and sheathed by overlapping            leaves, each leaf with a dormant axillary bud.        -   II. Stem texture.—Glabrous and fleshy.        -   III. Stem size.—A) Length (above soil level): Usually            between 8 and 15.5 cm at anthesis. B) Diameter between 5 and            7.4 cm at soil level at anthesis.        -   IV. Stem shape.—Cylindrical and with a narrower diameter at            the distal part.        -   V. Stem color.—7,5 GY 7/1.-   Leaves:    -   -   I. General.—Closely overlapping sessile leaves (formed in            acropetal succession) forming a dense rosette, the outline            of which in longitudinal section is roughly heart shaped.            The number of leaves fluctuates between 28 and 57 with a            5/13 phyllotaxy.        -   II. Texture.—A) Upper epidermal area: Glabrous, semi-rigid            and channeled (or concave) except at the leaf tip. C) Lower            epidermal area: Finely striated (longitudinally) and appears            covered with white layer consisting of scale-like trichomes.        -   III. Leaf arrangement.—Alternate and in rosette shape.        -   IV. Leaf margins.—Plane, with rarely found irregularly            spaced small deltoid-cuspidate hooked spines usually located            on the distal portions of leaves.        -   V. Leaf venation.—Parallel.        -   VI. Leaf shape.—Leaves are not uniform in shape and vary            with the position of the leaf on the stem. The basal or            oldest leaves are lanceolate while the base is considerably            expanded. There is a noticeable narrowing in width between            non-chlorophyllous (basal) and chlorophyllous (or main            portion) of the leaves. The longest or most mature leaves            are lanceolate in form but the base is without the arcuate            expansions of the preceding leaves. The remaining leaves (or            center leaves of the plant rosette) are lanceolate in form            with no expansion of width into the base.        -   VII. Leaf size (at anthesis).—A) Length: Usually between 69            and 85 cm for those leaves originating from the medium part            of the stem with a non-chlorophyllous base that usually is            between 2.6 and 6.4 cm of length. B) Width: Normally between            4.1 and 6.0 cm in the mid leaf area of the longest leaves.            The expanded basal disk usually has a maximum width of 7.5            to 10 cm. C) Thickness: In the longest leaves, usually vary            between 1.6 to 2.4 mm at the center of the mid leaf area and            decreased laterally between 0.8 and 1.5 mm at the margin,            while becoming slightly thinner at the tip. The expanded            basal disk at the mid stem area usually has a maximum            thickness of 1.5 to 3.8 mm at the center of the blade and            tapering laterally toward margins up to 0.36 to 1.28 mm. D)            Terminal crown leaves: average size 9.4 cm, number 77; and            margin type smooth.        -   VIII. Color.—A) Upper epidermal surface: 1. General: Color            is usually dominated by yellowish green, olive green, and            reddish green. The color of the basal disk is dominated by a            white hue and light yellow. 2. Chlorophyllous basal disk            area: Commonly light yellowish (5Y 8/1, 5Y 8/2). 3. Mid leaf            area: Commonly olive green (7.5 GY 5/4, 5R 3/4). 4. Leaf tip            area: Commonly olive gray (5.0GY 6/4) reddish purple (5.0RP            4/2). B) Lower epidermal area: 1. General: Commonly olive            green to grayish olive green with pale white basal disk            area. 2. Lower epidermal surface: Scurfy surface that            obscures colors commonly light olive green to grayish olive            green (7.5GY 8/2, 7.5GY 7/2). C) Color of the terminal crown            leaves 5GY 6/4 (predominant) and 2,5 GY 5/3 (secondary).

INFLORESCENCE (AT ANTHESIS)

-   -   -   I. General.—Flower composite from 80 to 144 fruit-lets borne            per inflorescence of a long peduncle of approximately 21.2            cm length at the apical meristem. Individual bisexual            flowers that consists of three sepals, six stamens, three            stigmas and three carpels. The inflorescence is            self-incompatible producing edible fruit parthenocarpically.        -   II. Texture.—Glabrous and fleshy.        -   III. Shape.—Oval with slightly raised flowers with a reddish            green hue in the crown. Crown leaves are short and erect at            anthesis.        -   IV. Size and color.—Comparable to specimens of Ananas            comosus L. mer. Petals color 10 YR 8/1 and 5RP 6/4.        -   V. Sepal size.—0.4 cm, color 10 R 7/4.        -   VI. Flora bract's length 2 cm, serrated margin (with tiny            spines).—color 2,5 R 7/4.

FRUIT (AT HARVEST)

-   -   -   I. Size.—Usually has a weight between 433 and 1051 gms with            average fruit of 837 grms. Fruit core's diameter: 2.45 cm.        -   II. Shape.—Cylindrical or slightly conic with small and            prominent fruitlets. Medium crown with thin and semi-rigid            leaves. Average height of the fruit 19-24 cm; diameter of            the fruit: basal 8.92 cm; top 8.46 cm.        -   III. How borne.—Fruit develop from the apical meristem of            the plant on a long peduncle, usually between 19 and 24 cm            length.        -   IV. Color.—A) Shell: Commonly dark green (7.5GY 4/4), olive            green (5.0GY 7/6), reddish (5R 3/6) and/or yellow (10YR            7/8). Fruit core color 2.5 Y 8/6. B) Pulp: Usually light            yellow (5.0Y 8/4 to 5.0Y 8/2).        -   V. Brix.—Typically between 14.40 and 18.10 degrees, with an            average of 16.18.        -   VI. Total acid levels.—Usually between 0.67 and 1.33 gms            citric acid/100 ml of juice (average 0.98).        -   VII. Vitamin C content.—Regularly between 14.73 and 37.36            mg/100 ml of juice, with an average of 21.14.

-   Plant/fruit resistance /susceptibility to pests and diseases:    Moderately susceptible to Fusarium subglutinans. Table 2 shows a    further comparison of pest and disease resistance of pineapple    varieties ‘Honey Gold’, ‘Champaka’ and ‘MD2’.

-   Others:    -   -   I. Fertility.—As any other grown up pineapple, this plant is            self-compatible. This is the reason why presence of sexual            seeds is almost negative. The materials used for planting            are slips and the non-commercial fruit crowns.        -   II. Vigor.—It is considered that the plant vigor is similar            as to mother plants. It is a slow-growing plant as compared            to other types of pineapple like ‘Champaka’ or the hybrid            ‘MD-2’.        -   III. Yield.—Each plant estimated yield is 61 tons/ha.        -   IV. Market.—Fruit will be designated to the international            fruit market.        -   V. Plant use.—Fruit will be commercialized into the fresh            fruit market.

SUMMARY OF SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ‘HONEY GOLD’ SELECTION

The ‘Honey Gold’ plant presents differences, compared to parental line,as follows:

Plant with fewer slips: according to Chan (1995) Tainung 11 plantsusually bear 7 slips while ‘Honey Gold’ plants bear 0-3 slips. Fewerslips reduce contact with the fruit, hence reducing problems caused byleaves rubbing against the fruit, accumulation of organic matter, andthe concomitant staining of the fruit base. It also decreases problemsof color inconsistency in the fruit that can be caused by the shade froma high number of slips.

The fruit presents higher levels of brix, citric and ascorbic acid thanmother plants. As a result of the clonal selection process, the ‘HoneyGold’ pineapple has citric acid content that is about 112% as comparedto ‘Tainung 11’ and 14.3% higher Brix than ‘Tainung 11’. Ascorbic acidlevels are about 28.2% over the levels observed in the originalpopulation (original selection of ‘Tainung 11’ plants). ‘Honey Gold’variety has also fewer spines in the leaves than Tainung 11. Thesecharacteristics of the ‘Honey Gold’ plant are stable and are shown inTable 1. Table 3 compares the new variety ‘Honey Gold’ with severalother varieties and cultivars; among others is Tainung 11, which is theclosest variety. TABLE 1 Average of inheritance of characteristics inselection material for ‘Honey Gold’ pineapple. F1 represents baselinedata of the first generation grown from the parental line. F2 generationwas selected based on characteriscs of vigor, thorniness and number ofslips. F3 was selected based on characteristics of vigor, thorniness andnumber of slips, but also on brix and ascorbic acid. F4 represents‘Honey Gold’ as developed from the parental line by mass clonalselection. The plants of F4 generation display stable inheritance ofreduced number of slips per plant and a 40% higher ascorbic acid contentthan the baseline generation. Ascorbic Citric Acid Number FruitGeneration acid mg/100 ml g/100 ml Brix of Slips Weight (g) F1 14.8 0.7714.15  0-10 1463 F2 14.7 0.6 15.95 0-7 999 F3 21.2 1.0 15.60 0-3 757 F420.6 0.9 14.40 0-3 954

INDIVIDUAL PLANT DESCRIPTION

The following is a general description of a new pineapple plant varietythat was grown by vegetative propagation (cloning selection) in anursery of Corporaci6n de Desarrollo Agricola Del Monte S.A. (PINDECO)in Buenos Aires, Puntarenas, Costa Rica.

-   -   -   Plant age.—10 months after initial propagation and 3 months            after forcing.        -   Plant diameter.—About 77 cm between opposite leaf tips.        -   Plant height.—79 cm above ground surface.

-   Stem:    -   -   I) Length.—12 cm        -   II) Diameter.—7.0 cm at base.

-   Leaves:    -   -   I) Number.—42.        -   II) Length.—75 cm at longest leaves.        -   III) Width (largest leaves).—At mid leaf (max) 5.2 cm; at            basal disk area (max) 8.7 cm        -   IV) Thickness.—1.8 mm along the axis.        -   V) Color.—A) Upper epidermal area—Chlorophyllous area:            Commonly olive green (5.0GY 6/4 and 5.GY 5/4) and reddish            brown (5R 8/3). B) Upper epidermal area—Non-Chlorophyllous            area: Commonly pale white (5Y 8/1). C) Lower epidermal area:            Commonly from olive green to grayish olive green (7.5GY 8/2            and 7.5GY 7/2).

-   Inflorescence:    -   -   General.—Composite flower with an inflorescence borne from a            long peduncle of approximately 13 cm length at the apical            meristem. The flower is composed of 136 fruitlets. Petals            are white (10YR 8/1) in the proximal part, and pale lilac            (5RP6/4) in the distal part.

COMPARISON OF ‘HONEY GOLD’ WITH OTHER PINEAPPLE VARIETIES

There are many pineapple varieties grown world wide; however themajority of the varieties are grown for local consumption. By contrast,only two varieties comprise the vast majority of pineapple grown forcommercial distribution (either for fresh or canned). These twovarieties are ‘Champaka’ (also known as ‘Smooth Cayene’) and ‘MD2’. Athird variety (‘CO2’) is also only grown for export purposes, but is notwidely cultivated. Since ‘Honey Gold’ will be grown for export to theUS, Europe, and other locations, most of the comparison data generatedis made versus ‘Champaka’ and ‘MD2’.

Table 2 depicts differences in susceptibility to pests and diseases:‘Honey Gold’ and ‘Champaka’ are less susceptible than ‘MD2’ toThielaviopsis sp. (common fruit rot) and Elarphia sp. (a moth species).Otherwise, all three varieties are similar in their response to pestsand diseases. TABLE 2 Susceptibility of certain commercial pineapplevarieties to pests and diseases. Pineapple Variety Pest and diseasesHoney Gold MD2 Champaka Elaphria sp. S S+ S Melybug S S S (Dysmicocusbrevipes) Thecla (Strymon S S S basilides) Thielaviopsis S S+ S paradoxain fruit (T.V) Phytophtora S S S parasitica Helicotylenchus sp. S S SMeloidegyne sp. S S S Pratylenchus sp. S S S(S = susceptible, S+ = very susceptible)

The result in Table 3 show that ‘Honey Gold’ has a longer shelf lifethan ‘MD2’ because color development of the shell is slower and thevariety is less affected by cosmetic defects such as dehydration spots,brown spots and fruit fermentation. TABLE 3 Comparison of some of thepost harvest characteristics of ‘MD2’ vs. Honey Gold. ExternalAppearance (at days after harvest) Brown Fruit Shell color DehydrationSpot Fermentation development* spot (%) (%) (%) Days after harvest 15 2115 21 15 21 Variety 0 15 21 dah** dah dah dah dah dah MD2 2 3.1 5.0 23.056.0 3.0 7.1 0 9.0 Honey 2 2.9 2.8 2.5 2.1 0 0 0 3.5 Gold(*Shell color was evaluated on a scale of 12-5 with 1 = green, 5 =completely yellow. **dah = days after harvest)

Table 4 compares the characteristics of export vs. local varieties.Information in this table was obtained from Del Monte data and fromliterature. This table also gives comparison between ‘Honey Gold’ andthe closes variety Tainung 11. The characteristics of ‘Honey Gold’differ from those of other varieties in the following ways:

-   -   1. Slips. ‘Honey Gold’, ‘MD2’, ‘CO2’ and ‘Red Spanish’ have        significantly fewer slips than the other varieties.    -   2. Fruit weight. The fruit weight of ‘Honey Gold’ tends to be        significantly less than that of the other varieties commonly        grown commercially for the export markets.    -   3. Ascorbic acid. The ascorbic acid content of ‘Honey Gold’ is        intermediate between the low ascorbic acid producing varieties        (‘Champaka’ and ‘Tainung’) and the high ascorbic acid producing        varieties (‘MD2’ and ‘CO2’).    -   4. Citric acid. The citric acid content of ‘Honey Gold’ is        clearly the highest among all the varieties for which data is        available.    -   5. Brix. The sugar content (measured as degrees Brix) of ‘Honey        Gold’ is also very high, but almost all pineapple except ‘Red        Spanish’, ‘Perola’ and ‘Queen’ have very high brix.    -   6. Age to forcing. ‘Honey Gold is relatively slow growing, but        data is not available for most varieties in the table.

7. Spininess. Presence of spines on leaves is a characteristic that iscommonly used to differentiate among pineapple varieties. ‘Honey Gold’is among the varieties that rarely have spines. By contrast, spines arecommon on the leaves of ‘Sarawak’, ‘Mauritius’, ‘Red Spanish’, ‘Tainung11’, ‘Perola’ and ‘Queen’. TABLE 4 Comparative characteristics ofseveral varieties and cultivars of pineapple Number of Fruit weightAscorbic acid Slips (gr0 (mg/100 ml) Variety/ Av- Av- Av- Cultivar erageRange erage Range erage Range MD-2⁽¹ 1.2 0-3 1820 1070-2560 53.0637.00-69.00 Honey 1.5 0-3 1033  450-1678 21.14 14.73-37.36 Gold Champaka1.1 1710  420-3010 12.91  8.10-17.72 F153⁽² Champaka 1.5 2328 F152⁽³CO-2⁽⁴ 2-3 2059 1297-2590  30.8-55.50 Singapore  2-12 1000 Spanish⁽⁵Sarawak⁽⁵ 0 2000-4000 Mauritius⁽⁵ 0  500-1500 Josephine⁽⁶ 1100-1300Scarlett⁽⁶ 1400-2000 Red 1-3 1200-2000 Spanish⁽⁶ Tainung 6.9 991 733-1269 10.40-18.50 11⁽⁷ Imperial⁽⁸ 9.0 1792 Perolera⁽⁸  8-10 1800Perolera o 10-15 1000-1500 Pernam- buco⁽¹⁰ Primavera⁽¹⁰  7-10 1300Queen⁽¹¹ 4.0  500-1000 26.00 Citric acid (gr/100 ml) Brix Variety/ Av-Av- Cultivar erage Range erage Range MD-2⁽¹ 0.6 0.36-0.84 15.0512.9-17.2 Honey 0.98 0.67-1.33 16.18 14.4-18.1 Gold Champaka 0.720.54-0.90 14.33 11.6-17.0 F153⁽² Champaka 0.73 14.97 F152⁽³ CO-2⁽⁴0.42-0.91 15.0-16.7 Singapore 0.50-0.60 10.0-12.0 Spanish⁽⁵ Sarawak⁽⁵0.30-0.65 14.0-17.0 Mauritius⁽⁵ 0.40-0.60 15.0-17.0 Josephine⁽⁶17.0-22.0 Scarlett⁽⁶ 15.0-18.0 Red 12 Spanish⁽⁶ Tainung 0.50 0.40-0.6014 13.2-15.1 11⁽⁷ Imperial⁽⁸ 0.62 15.8 Perolera⁽⁸ 0.64 13.1 Perolera o14-16 Pernam- buco⁽¹⁰ Primavera⁽¹⁰ 0.51 13 Queen⁽¹¹ 0.56 14-16¹⁾Pindeco's historical data base and monthly research report April 2001;Bartholomew et al. Pineapple Botany, Production and Uses . . .²⁾Pindeco's fruit historical data base. Pindeco's forcing plant weithgdata base.³⁾Research report PRI No 63. July 1969. Tables 16, 21 and 29.^(4) Plant patent 8,863)⁵⁾Wee, Y.C. 1972. Some common pineapple cultivars of west Malaysia.Malays, Pineapple pp 7-13.⁶⁾Bartholomew et al. 2003 The Pineapple, Botany, Production and Uses.⁷⁾Chang, Ching-Chyn, 1995 Tainung No 13 Pineapple. Jour. Agric. Res.China 44(2): 287-296.⁸⁾Pinto da Cunha et al. O abacaxizeiro. Pineapple News Issue No 10 May2003.⁹⁾Pinto da Cunha et al. O abacaxizeiro. Py et al. The pineappleCultivation and uses.¹⁰⁾Pinto da Cunha et al. O abacaxizeiro. Bartholomew et al. ThePineapple Botany, Production and Uses. Del Monte pineapple germplasmcollection database.

LITERATURE

-   Chang, C. C. 1995. Tainung No. 13 pineapple. Jour. Agric. Res. China    44 (3): 287-296-   Chang, C. C., Chen-Yung, W. 1997. Pineapple breeding. In:    Chang-LinRen (eds.) Proceedings of a Symposium on Enhancing    Competitiveness of Fruit Industry. Special Publication No. 38,    Taichung District Agricultural Improvement Station, Taichung,    Taiwan. Pp 107-122

1. A new and distinct variety of Ananas comosus plant named ‘Honey Gold’as shown and described herein.